While research in green biomass has a strong foothold, the use of marine (or blue) biomass is in many aspects still in its infancy.

The oceans have huge potentials in the form of organisms such as macroalgae (seaweed), mussels and starfish, which can be used for food, feed and high value products. The use of blue biomass is a good example of circular bioeconomy because nutrients emitted from land are absorbed by marine biomass and recycled in the terrestrial food chain when we harvest and use the marine biomass. Since blue biomass production allow us to capture and re-use nutrients from the marine environment, cultivation and harvesting marine biomass can also be a future tool for environmental conditions in coastal waters.

The challenge lies first and foremost in scaling up and commercialising the production of biomass and ensuring its competitiveness by developing the necessary sustainable technology for cultivation, management and use.

CBIO is an international leader in the research area ”Production and management of marine biomasse” – especially with regard to research in creating profitable and environmentally efficient production of marine biomass on an industrial scale. 

Our research concentrates on the following themes: 

• Cultivating and harvesting macroalgae
• Environmental and climate effects of macroalgae and mussel production for marine biomass
• Use and characterisation of marine biomass for food and feed products

Cultivating and harvesting macroalgae

We carry out research in innovative cultivation and harvesting technologies based on terrestrial and off-shore facilities for production of macroalgae (in Grenaa and off the shore of Grenaa, respectively).

The focus here is on optimising biomass yield and quality primarily by optimising environmental parameters during growth, but also via breeding.

Environmental and climate effects

One of the most important research tasks regarding marine biomass is to determine the production potential and environmental effects of cultivating and harvesting the biomass on an industrial scale. Our work therefore has a focus on investigating yield and environmental effects of cultivating and harvesting macroalgae and mussels in marine areas with across a range of exposure, salinity and nutrient loads.

Use for food, feed and high value products

Marine biomass has an unlimited potential for use. At CBIO we work with its use for food, feed, plant biostimulants, fish feed, and biorefinery based on AU’s unique platforms for pre-treatment and biorefinery.